Numerous kick scooters have been developed that roll on two wheels and, in some cases, allow the user to fold the scooter in half saving storage space when the scooter is not in use. These scooters are primarily intended for recreational use although they can be also used for regular commuting by pedestrians and public transportation riders. These scooters have also been equipped with electric motors allowing for powered movement instead of a manual push, or kick, with the user's foot. While these scooters are generally useful vehicles for traveling distances and having fun, they lack the ability to help the user support whatever items the user might be carrying. This forces the user to wear some type of article carrying device in order to carry their belongings with them as they travel on the scooter. Typically, these article carrying devices take the form of shopping bags or backpacks and are held in the user's hand while holding on to the scooters handlebars, or they are worn on the user's shoulders. Grasping a bag handle while holding on to the handlebar of a scooter is dangerous and impairs a user's ability to properly steer the scooter. Wearing a backpack while scooting can increase the stress on the user's shoulders and back as she operates the scooter.
Pedestrians and public transportation users also use rolling luggage to carry their belongings while walking. These types of luggage have hard and soft cases and come in many styles including large and small suitcases and backpacks, and messenger bags. They roll behind as the user walks in front. While they do prevent the user from back and shoulder stress caused by carrying luggage, they are difficult to walk quickly with and to use in crowded situations.
There have been many attempts to combine a kick scooter with an article carrying device to avoid the shortcomings of each product on its own, as described above. Examples include, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,460,866; 4,913,252; and 3,314,494. With these versions the scooter footboard is configured to rotate, or fold, between in-use and non-use positions. When in use, the footboard extends out, or is unfolded, from the article carrying device. Conversely, when not in use, the footboard lies vertically along a similarly dimensioned face of the article carrying device, or is folded up. This can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,866. This is done to minimize the exposure of the footboard to external elements and avoid potential snagging problems, while maintaining a compact and clean look to the device as a whole. Additionally, the automatic deployment mechanisms of U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,431,311 and 7,731,204, herein incorporated by reference, adds greatly to the convenience and speed of converting the scooter footboard between use and non-use, linking handlebar movement to automatic movement of the footboard.
However, these styles of article carrying devices combined with scooters are not amenable to a messenger-style bag, in that there is no vertical face on a messenger-style bag to accommodate the vertically positioned scooter footboard. Consequently, the footboard tends to stick out beyond the face of the messenger-style article carrying device and the dual goals of minimizing exposure and a compact look is not achieved. Also, these styles of article carrying devices depend on an arrangement in which the footboard is permitted to fold. Many scooters do no permit such folding in favor of overall scooter stability. As such these styles of article carrying devices and automatic folding mechanisms are incompatible with a scooter whose footboard cannot fold.
Additionally, some attempts have been made to incorporate scooters into messenger-style bags or article carrying devices shaped similarly to messenger-style bags. An example of such an attempt is U.S. Publication No. 2004/0094919 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,614. However, these versions do not incorporate an automatic deployment mechanism as would be greatly beneficial to combination article carrying devices and scooters, and due to the arrangement of their elements, it is not immediately clear how such a mechanism would be incorporated into them.
Thus, there is a substantial need for a combination article carrying device and scooter that incorporates an automatic deployment feature and is particularly suited for a messenger-style bag and/or a scooter that is incapable of folding up.